Dylan and Critical Organization Studies

Just as I heard about the Nobel Price for Bob Dylan, I thought about some Dylan lyrics which could be used to start a presentation or lecture about Critical Management and Organization Studies and the like. Here are the first rather well-known lyrics that come to my mind. Any other suggestions?

„There must be some way out of here“, said the joker to the thief,
„There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief.
Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth,
None of them along the line know what any of it is worth.“

„No reason to get excited,“ the thief, he kindly spoke,
„There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.
But you and I, we’ve been through that, and this is not our fate,
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late.“

(All Along the Watchtower)

I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s pa no more.
No, I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s pa no more.
Well, he puts his cigar
Out in your face just for kicks.
His bedroom window
It is made out of bricks.
The National Guard stands around his door.
Ah, I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s pa no more.

I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s ma no more.
No, I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s ma no more.
Well, she talks to all the servants
About man and God and law.
Everybody says
She’s the brains behind pa.
She’s sixty-eight, but she says she’s twenty-four.
I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s ma no more.

(Maggie‘s Farm)

Mama’s in the factory, she ain’t got no shoes
Daddy’s in the alley, he’s lookin‘ for food
I’m in the kitchen with the tombstone blues

(Tombstone Blues)

Ah, get born, keep warm
Short pants, romance, learn to dance
Get dressed, get blessed
Try to be a success
Please her, please him, buy gifts
Don’t steal, don’t lift
Twenty years of schoolin‘
And they put you on the day shift

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„You can’t live by bread alone, you won’t be satisfied“
(Something´s burning, baby)

On demand and supply of work

„The work was cut down
And more work was cut,
Where the miners work almost for nothing.“
(North country blues)

The boss isn’t around… (motivation?)

„Well, the pressure’s down, the boss ain’t here,
He gone North, he ain’t around,
They say that vanity got the best of him
But he sure left here after sundown.
By the way, that’s a cute hat,
And that smile’s so hard to resist
But what’s a sweetheart like you doin‘ in a dump like this?“
(North country blues)

Being sacked…

It`s all over now, baby blue
and
I ain´t gonna work on Maggie´s farm no more…

Reasons for losing your job / globalization

Well, my shoes, they come from Singapore,
My flashlight’s from Taiwan,
My tablecloth’s from Malaysia,
My belt buckle’s from the Amazon.
You know, this shirt I wear comes from the Philippines
And the car I drive is a Chevrolet,
It was put together down in Argentina
By a guy makin‘ thirty cents a day.
Well, it’s sundown on the union
(Union sundown)

Theory of economic crisis (underconsumption)

„Here’s an evening haze settling over town,
Starlight by the edge of the creek
The buying power of the proletariat’s gone down,
Money’s getting shallow and weak

Well, the place I love best is a sweet memory
it’s a new path that we trod
They say low wages are a reality
If we want to compete abroad
(Working man´s blues #2)

Research methods (thanks to Rainhard Lang)

When I was in Missouri
They would not let me be
I had to leave there in a hurry
I only saw what they let me see
(Tryin‘ To Get To Heaven)